Hair Stylist

Cut, color, and arrange hair in fashionable styles.

What does a Hair Stylist do?

There’s a pretty good chance you’ve been to a hair stylist at least once before. Hair stylists are the people who cut your hair while you sat in a rocket chair as a kid, gave you the badly advised perm in high school, and fixed the blonde dye job you gave yourself after your last bad breakup.

As a hair stylist you have a wide range of employment options and might find yourself working in a high-end salon or at the corner chain. Where you find yourself usually depends on your level of experience and skill.

Wherever you end up working, your job is to help each client decide what cut works best for them and their needs, taking into account things like bone structure, amount of prep time in the morning, and personal preference. After finishing a cut, you might style or dye your client’s hair, though be aware both of these skills require special training and especially in the case of dyeing, can have disastrous consequences if done wrong.

Styling and dyeing are two areas of expertise you might decide to specialize in, though there are other areas you can focus on, for example working with different ethnicities, little kids, or learning non-hair related skills like giving facials or doing nails.